Hello my lovely friends 💕 It’s that time again…Time for the ‘Fantastic Bake Along’ hosted by our lovely friend Tracy over at It’s a T-Sweets Day Every month Tracy inspires a long list of friends to do some baking. Usually we all bake one thing….but this month she just gave us a theme: Apples 😃 ~ inspired by Connie’s @ Connie’s Creations Applesauce Cake. I decided to follow Connie’s recipe for the Applesauce cake…and I strongly advise you to do the same. That cake is absolutely fabulous! We had some for dessert last night, and right after hubby was already planning the size of the slice for breakfast! 😂

Doesn’t it look amazing?

Oh…btw…I didn’t put icing on…I was a little too generous with the flour when I prepared the pan. 😝

Throughout the weekend I saw a lot of mouthwatering Apple Recipes…Tracy’s Award winning Apple Pie, Apple Waffles, Apple Scones, Apple/Prosciutto/Parmesan Wraps…just to name a few.

Everything looks so delicious that I will definitely bake my way down the list. Meanwhile, this cake will definitely be a staple in this house, and once you make it (just follow the ‘Applesauce Cake’ link up there ⬆️ ) you will feel the same. I promise!

Now I’m off to the kitchen…got some more baking to do. See – it’s Lorelai’s Birthday – and every year I spoil her with her favorite peanutbuttery Doggy-licious cookies😍

Happy Birthday, Lorelai!

She keeps looking at me – I think she knows what’s coming! 😁

Thank you for stopping by today! 💕

I wish all of my US friends a happy, joyful, peaceful Thanksgiving Celebration! 😍

Tracy from It’s a T-Sweets Day hosts this fun event full of deliciousness once a month. If you love cooking and baking you should hop over to her blog and let her know that you would like to join us next month. 😀

Here’s her invite

This month we baked a Quiche Lorraine – with pastry from scratch! The recipe came from Emma @ Emma Crafts Design 🤗

Here it is…

Preheat your oven to 180°C (360°F).You will need for the pastry – for the bakers among you without a kitchen scale I added the cup measurements in parentheses.

75 g (5-1/2 Tbsp.) butter or margarine

150 g (1-1/3 cup) plain flour

50 ml water (1/3 cup)

salt for seasoning

Mix all your ingredients together until well combined. Roll your pastry out and place in a pie baking dish- I don’t have one….yet! ….so I used a springform. I rolled my pastry on a sheet of baking paper and used it to line the tin, it makes it easier to clean! 😉 Roll it on the paper to approximate size, set it into the form/dish, use your fingers to spread it to the edge. Lift out, trim the paper down, set it back in the dish, and pick the bottom of the pastry with a fork to prevent it from raising once in the oven.

You will need for the filling:

150-200 g of bacon bits (6 – 8 oz.)

• 4 eggs

• 100 g (1/3 + 1/4 cup) of thickened cream

• 50 ml milk (1/3 cup )

• block cheese (you can use gruyere or Swiss cheese too)

• salt and pepper for seasoning

Cook your bacon bits in a pan for 3-5 minutes, then lay them evenly on your pastry. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, cream and milk together, adding salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture over the bacon bits, straight on top of your pastry. Grate about 50 g of your block cheese on top of your quiche.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

And here it is… 😊

Of course there was a heart-stopping moment 😜 I poured the filling mix into the dish, on top of the bacon, turn around to walk it to the oven….and what do I see? 😳 Yep – the sour cream, perched on top of the scale, smirking at me…

Oh boy….what to do? I went and poured the filling back into the mixing bowl….it did get a bit messy 😬 added the sour cream, whipped and poured everything again. I’m happy to report that everything after that went according to plan. 😎

My Quiche was a bit on the thin side. I’m not sure if it was the ‘pouring back and forth’ or if I didn’t whip the egg mixture long enough. Or maybe my pan was to big (11″). Either way – all this shall be corrected next time. 😃

It was still delicious 😍 Hubby and I took it on the patio – pretending we’re sitting in the courtyard of a nice restaurant in Nancy, enjoying the French Countryside. 💜

I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe! 🤗 Will you join us next month?

This made me hungry again 😄 I’m gonna go now and have the leftover piece….maybe with pineapple?!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a new ‘New ~ Stitch ~ Sunday’ 🤓 Hope to see you there!

I’m veering off course from last week’s plan/post …remember I showed you the book ‘I HearAmerica Cooking’ and wanted to ‘test cook’ something from Chapter 1? Well, turns out that it’s mostly Chilis and hot soups! While that will be awesome in the fall, it’s not so great during the heat wave we’re just sitting/sweating through. 😎🌞👙

So tonight we’re having a fancy-ish Tuna Salad 🥗 It’s easy, perfect for this weather – the kitchen and you will stay cool 😁- and low-cal! 😜 Doesn’t get better than that, right?

All you need is

~ a can of Tuna (or a Rotisserie chicken; or beans for a vegan version)

~ a jar of sweet relish

~ Pepper

~ Lettuce

~ and anything cold and delicious you can think of 🥑🍅🥕🌽🥒🌶

💫Mix the Tuna with an equal amount of relish. Add Pepper.

Mix well (It won’t be exactly pretty at this point…but you will make it look awesome 😋)

Arrange on a bed of lettuce, and garnish with all your favorite things. 😊

Maybe you remember the recipe for Country Style Ribs ‘n Beer I shared a while ago. Did you cook the ribs? I hope you liked it. 😀
Today I have a variation to share with you. It was a spontaneous add-on last night…let me tell you how that came about.

See, once in a while hubby and I like to go to the casino. 😎 He likes to smoke his cigar, away from the cold/heat/wind, and I’m addicted to their cappuccino. 😝 Anyway – usually I prep dinner, we eat when he comes home, and off we go. Well, yesterday he came home at 4:30 – a bit too early for dinner. So I decided to throw the (alread cooked) ribs into the Crockpot. Easy peasy! ☺️ Only problem….there wasn’t enough liquid in the pan. Out of broth, I dove into the pantry and came up with a jar of ‘Chipotle & Lime’ Salsa. Hmmm…. maybe! 🤔I enjoy a little ‘tastebud’ adventure….so I added that and 1/3 cup of water….oh my! That is awesome!!! 🙆🏻

We will try different Salsas – but from here on out Ribs will always have Beer & Salsa in it! 😁

Is your mouth watering yet? 😃 Will you have ribs for dinner? I sure hope you enjoy them!

Hello my lovely friends 💕 How nice of you to peek in! And because you’re so sweet, I have an extra special sweet treat for you today! At least hubby thinks it’s extra special! 😊 That’s why I made these german cookies this week. See, last Tuesday was our anniversary, and because he’s a pretty nifty guy he got his favorite cookies. 😍

Speaking of anniversary, I’d like to show you something related to that.

I gotta backtrack…..a few months after we got married my new husband had to deploy to Bosnia. For a whole year- ugh 😑 With the kid in school I had a lot of time on my hands. And what does Tina do when she has time? Be creative, of course 😋 So I got a cross-stitch kit, and made this sampler

It has to be the kitschiest thing in our house 😆 but we love it! And…with this hanging in the hallway there’s no excuse to ever forget the anniversary! 😂

Okay, enough with the memories….let’s get baking 👩🏻‍🍳

You will need (like I mentioned, this is a german recipe, so the measurements might seem a bit unusual) 😊

~ 1 1/2 c Flour

~ a pinch of salt

~ 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts or almonds

~ 1/4 c + 1 Tbsp. Sugar

~ 1 egg

~ 9 Tbsp Butter

Topping:

~ 3 Tbsp. heavy cream

~ 10 Tbsp. Butter

~ 1 scant cup sugar

~ 3 Tbsp. Honey

~ 9 oz. sliced Almonds or Hazelnuts

Mix the flour, salt, nuts, and sugar together, add the egg. Cut the butter into small chunks. Mix everything with a knife, cutting the butter as you go. Knead until a soft dough forms. Shape it into a ball, and set it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper (I prefer non-stick aluminum foil, because with that you can line ‘up-the-edges’….the topping gets a bit runny, and sticky as it cools)

Prepare the topping- Melt the butter, honey, and sugar on medium heat. Add the almonds, bring to a boil – watch it carefully…1 roll then take it off the heat! Stir well, let cool for a few minutes.